Wednesday, May 28, 2014

New Beginnings

Welcome to my first blog post! I have deliberated a long time over whether or not I should start a blog. My first reaction to the thought is, "What do I have to offer readers?" There are so many others who have so much more experience and wisdom than I. However, God reminded me that I have nothing to offer. Any wisdom that comes from me is generated by the Holy Spirit which resides in me.

So, here I go on this new adventure. My goal to start is to simply post only once each week. For now my goal will be to post by each Thursday evening. Mostly I will share insights that I receive while serving in the ministry, studying and praying or what I am learning through my own personal time of reading.

Please bear with me as I learn some of the best practices of blogging. If you have any tips, just email me at mabankmusic@gmail.com. I will be glad to learn how to present things better as I go along.

At this point, let me introduce myself, in case you do not know me. I have served as a minister of music for the past 25 years. If you want to be technical, I started leading music at the age of 17 while my dad was pastoring a new church start. So, that would unofficially make my length of service 27 years. For the past 7 years I have been serving in a dual capacity as I minister to senior adults in addition to the music ministry.

My dad is an excellent shepherding pastor and he taught me much while I served with him both in that early church start at age 17 and later when I served in my first paid position with him as pastor when I was 19 and in college . This is not to mention all the "hands on" training he gave growing up. Because of his wise council I have always been a pastor to the people first and music was my means of performing the ministry.

I love reading God's Word and I love studying God's Word and am most challenged to do so when I am preparing to teach God's Word which has become my biggest focus of late. I love to see people light up when they discover a truth they have not seen before and especially when they begin applying it to their lives making an eternal difference.

I am a nervous witness. I love to witness and long to be bold, but often fail to due to my fear. One of my favorite passages to help me get through the fear is Acts 4. After being threatened by the religious leaders, the apostles along with many believers gather and pray to God for boldness. As they prayed, the Holy Spirit shook the room they were in and in verse 31 it says they began to speak the Word of God boldly. The bottom line is: they prayed and asked for boldness and God gave it to them. So, this is my model. I pray for boldness. I also put myself in the position to teach evangelism training because by doing so I am held to an accountability to live what I teach.

There you are and here I am. My first blog. I hope this enriches your life and if it does, please give God all the glory. If it doesn't, give me feedback of how I might be able to improve.  That's what the Body of Christ is about: glorifying God and edifying each other.

Thank you for reading!

For God's Glory,
Chris S. Sweet